Title (fr)

Publication

Application

Priority

US 9710221 W 19970529

US 66914996 A 19960624

Abstract (en)

[origin: WO9749475A1] Microfabricated filters (100) constructed with permeable polysilicon membranes (104) and methods for fabricating such filters. The filters include a frame structure (102) having a plurality of openings (103) therethrough and a permeable polysilicon membrane disposed over the openings in the frame structure. The frame structure provides support for the permeable polysilicon membrane. The pores of the filter may be smaller than the resolution limit of photolithography. The width of the pores may be as small as about 0.05 microns. The filters feature a relatively high throughput due to the extremely short pore length. The filters may be fabricated utilizing standard microfabrication processes. Also, microfabricated shells constructed with permeable membranes for encapsulating microfabricated devices such as microelectromechanical structures (MEMS) and methods for fabricating such shells. The shells include a frame structure having a plurality of openings therethrough, a permeable membrane disposed on the openings through the frame structure, an optional sealing cavity bounded by the frame structure. The permeable membrane may be a thin film layer of polysilicon having a thickness of less than 0.3 microns.